Killer driver brands Aussies racist in extradition fight

RUNAWAY killer driver Puneet Puneet has launched a shameful last-ditch bid in an Indian court to avoid extradition, arguing that Australia is racist.

Puneet Puneet admitted guilt over the crash which killed teenager Dean Hofstee but used a friend’s passport to flee Australia. Picture: File

The cowardly fugitive, who fled nine years ago after the fatal car accident, has enlisted two Indian supporters who have lived in Victoria to spearhead his legal claim that he cannot get a fair trial here because of apparent bias.

Fronting a New Delhi court, Indian-born chef Jayant Dagore, who is now an Australian citizen, said: "Indians are not safe in Australia, and every case against India has some racial point into it.

"Puneet should be free," he told the court. "India should help Puneet, not Australia."

But the family of 19-year-old nursing student Dean Hofstee, who was fatally struck during the drunken high-speed crash in Southbank almost a decade ago, pleaded for Puneet to - finally - face up to the consequences of his actions.